MLB

Sometimes sports have to take a back seat to more important news items of the day. And what’s more important than the safety of the Bay Bridge Troll? With the Eastern span of the bridge closed and set for demolition, there was a lot of concern over what would happen to the bridge’s official guardian.…

Professional golfer Amanda Blumenherst is listening to her heart. And right now, her heart isn’t in golf. According to a report from our sister network the Golf Channel, Blumenherst is stepping away from the game to spend more time with her husband, A’s first baseman Nate Freiman. “I was just going through the motions in…

On this day in 1965, Willie Mays hit his 17th home run of the month. At the time, it was a National League record for the month of August. Sammy Sosa eventually hit 17 homers in August of 2001, to equal Mays’ mark. Mays’ August achievement remains one of the hottest stretches in San Francisco…

Soon, America’s pastime will be pushed aside and forced to hail to the new king. Football is here. The pigskin push couldn’t come sooner for fans of the San Francisco Giants. The Oakland Athletics will be clinging to the remaining attention from Bay Area baseball fans as they make their pennant push on a pitted outfield and an infield with the faded marks of the gridiron.

“Obviously, I wasn’t very good,” Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander said, after allowing five runs over five innings in a 6-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday. Oh, to have heard those words from him after Game Five of the ALDS. After the Tigers’ ace tortured and humbled the A’s to the tune of…

The top prospects of the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants will be playing in the Arizona Fall League. Stockton Ports shortstop Addison Russell and San Jose Giants pitcher Kyle Crick highlight the class of Bay Area prospects that will be putting in some extra work this offseason. Russell was recently named the California League’s…

Somebody forgot to tell Hunter Pence the San Francisco Giants’ season is over. Pence is a free agent at the conclusion of the season and he’s showing that he needs to be kept in San Francisco. Pence was placed on revocable waivers, but it doesn’t mean he is going anywhere. The Giants’ right fielder said…

Here are the top-5 things you may have missed this weekend. Get caught up in one convenient place. Lavelle Hawkins headlines a day of craziness at Candlestick Park, the A’s fight fire with fire by calling up Daric Barton to fix their struggling offense, Brett Pill find a mentor in “The Thrill” and Peyton Manning runs “The Play.”

Orioles All-Star outfielder Adam Jones is a good sport as he tells the story behind the WWE Championship belt that Yoenis Cespedes was wearing after winning the home run derby. He also details his life-long love for wrestling and challenges Oakland Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick to a title-for-title wrestling match. The A’s and Orioles…

It’s hard to believe that Stockton Ports shortstop Addison Russell is only 19 years old when watching him on the baseball diamond. Russell, the A’s first round pick in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft, is composed and confident. He looks like he was born to play baseball. He has broad shoulders and a slender frame,…

Stories about athletes going from homeless to the pros are few and far between. However, in the Dixon household, it has become a common occurrence. San Francisco 49ers running back Anthony Dixon helped pave the way. When he was a kid growing up in Terry, Miss., he had to help raise his three brothers, because…

Last Friday, Sean Doolittle and Jerry Blevins received a tour of Twitter headquarters (or Twoffice). The visit included tweets, eats, a Pop-A-Shot basketball duel, twitpics, and the banging of a very loud gong. After their visit, the Oakland Athletics relievers took the time to educate the masses on their dos and don’ts of the social media app.

One of the most widely respected Oakland Athletics is back. The A’s have officially re-acquired catcher Kurt Suzuki in a trade with the Washington Nationals in exchange for right-handed pitcher Dakota Bacus. The A’s also receive cash considerations in the trade. Suzuki was hitting .222 with three home runs and 25 RBI in 79 games…

The bad blood between the Giants and Dodgers hit a boiling point on this day in 1965, after Giants pitcher Juan Marichal hit Dodgers catcher John Roseboro with a bat. The incident sparked a 14-minute brawl between the rival teams. The attack became the most memorable moment in a heated competition for the National League…

They say money doesn’t grow on trees, but it apparently grows on Brian Wilson’s face. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ reliever has been pitched an offer that would double his $1 million salary if he shaves his beard. The offer comes from a company called 800Razors.com. The story was picked up by Radar Online on Wednesday…

Oakland Raiders head coach Dennis Allen hopes his players are far more talented than they looked during the annual rookie talent show. Allen has been coaching in the NFL since 2002, and he couldn’t believe what he saw when the Raiders’ rookies took the stage to showcase their “talents.” “They were terrible,” Allen said. “In…

The Oakland Athletics had trouble teaching Grant Green how to play capable defense. They moved him from shortstop, to the outfield, to third base and finally to second base. With all the important stuff they were trying to teach Green, they apparently forgot to teach the first round pick in the 2009 draft how to…

The Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants continue on with their dueling home stands, except this time they switched roles. Call it a change-up, call it further proof that you can’t predict baseball, call it whatever you want, really. The Giants took down the first-place Boston Red Sox in the most improbable of fashions. After…

Oakland Athletics fans were left terribly confused after salivating for a sweet treat that would never arrive. On Monday, the A’s did defeat the Seattle Mariners 2-1 in walk-off fashion when Brandon Moss clubbed a home run to centerfield, but the customary pie celebration never occurred. It has become a Pavlovian response for A’s fans…

She’s a keeper. On Saturday in Sacramento, a couple got married between the third and fourth innings at a River Cats game. The between-innings wedding is believed to be the first of its kind. The couple that tied the knot are Alan and Jalena Slape, both long-time River Cats season ticket holders. The ceremony that…

Welcome to the latest edition of ‘A case of the Mondays.’ Here are the Top 5 things you may have missed over the weekend. Find out why Vernon Davis is primed to have a huge year, what Yoenis Cespedes’ strange critique of his bobblehead was, how Hunter Pence exorcised his demons, and why you should NEVER golf with Brent Burns.

The smiles weren’t limited to those in attendance when the A’s wives and girlfriends hopped on a treadmill positioned in the left field BBQ Terrace at the Oakland Coliseum. The ladies weren’t merely showing off their fitness, they were running miles for smiles. On July 26, the first ladies of the A’s raised $23,400 for Smile…

Bud Selig may not have the technical capacity to work an email account, but he is about to unleash some far more impactful technology on Major League Baseball. In what Selig dubbed “a historic day,” MLB passed a widely accepted proposal to expand instant replay in 2014. Under the replay proposal, managers will get up…

“I was cruising, back in the saddle. We were winning and I’m feeling great. All of a sudden I go out in the sixth inning, rear back to throw a fastball to Tim Raines and my left arm snaps in half. My career was over.”